If you only had an afternoon to experience London on a grand     1    , the Houses of Parliament, also called Palace of Westminster would be a wise place to start. The     2     of the bicameral (两院制的) Parliament including the House of Commons and the House of Lords, is located on the left bank of the River Thames in the borough of Westminster, London.

A royal palace was said to have existed at the site under the Danish king of England Canute. The building, however, spoken of by William Fitzstephen as a(n) “    3     structure,” was built for Edward the Confessor in the 11th century and     4     by William I (the Conqueror). In 1512 the palace suffered greatly from fire and thereafter ceased to be used as a royal residence. A fire in 1834 destroyed the whole palace except the historic Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower, the cloisters, and the crypt of St. Stephen’s Chapel.

Sir Charles Barry, assisted by A.W.N. Pugin, designed the present buildings in the Gothic Revival style. Construction was begun in 1837, the cornerstone was     5     in 1840, and work was finished in 1860. The Commons Chamber was burned out in one of the numerous air raids that targeted London during World War II, but it was     6     and reopened in 1950. The House of Lords is an ornate chamber 97 feet in length; the Commons is 70 feet long. The southwestern Victoria Tower is 336 feet high. The Elizabeth Tower,     7     St. Stephen’s Tower, about 320 feet in height, contains the famous tower clock Big Ben. Along with Westminster Abbey and St, Margaret’s Church, the Houses of Parliament were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, as symbols of spiritual and democratic     8    .

The Palace is one of the centers of political life in the United Kingdom; “Westminster” has become a metaphor for the UK Parliament and the British Government. The Elizabeth Tower, in particular, often     9     to by the name of its main bell, Big Ben, has become an iconic landmark of London and of the United Kingdom in general, one of the most     10     tourist attractions in the city, and a symbol of parliamentary democracy.

Touring “Treasure Island”

Chinese mainland tourists will be able to visit Taiwan via charted flights in July according to two landmark agreements signed on June 13. So, 21^st Century invited two young Taiwanese to     1     their favorite site on the island.

Yangming Mountain, north of Taipei

Young couples can definitely enjoy a     2     evening on the mountain and a bird’s eye view of the Taipei city. College students often visit the mountain for a     3    : others ride motorbike to the top. The mountain and the nearby town of Pei-tou have many hot springs, which often appear in romantic Taiwan TV dramas.

Ali Mountain, Jiayi County

Ali Mountain is the general name for 18 hills. The highest     4     of Ali Mountain is Tower Hill, which has a height of 2,663 meters. Ali Mountain is famous for its “five rare sites” - the sunrise, the Ali mountain Forest Railway, the famous Alishan Sacred Tree, the Grand Sea of Clouds and the Flamboyant Cherry Blossom. The best time to visit the     5     scenery is during the comfortable midsummer.

Taipei 101 tower, Taipei

The 101-floor landmark is one of the world’s tallest completed skyscrapers. Besides the shops inside and outside the tower, Taipei 101     6     splendid firework shows during festivals. A new     7     next to the tower is under construction. It will be a     8     beach on which the public will be permitted to     9    .

Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Memorial Hall and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei

The squares in front of these halls are open all day to the public. They have become a paradise to colleges students, who often meet there for an activity that     10     space. You will run into students dancing, rehearsing skits or even playing musical instruments.

Few countries have such a diverse and appealing“ Outdoors” as the USA. The landscape is     1     varied and spectacular. In the west there are Rocky Mountains with their     2     peaks, and in the east the forest-covered Appalachians, whose highest

summit is nearly 7000 feet. There is also an abundance of waterfalls, rivers, lakes that are small and intimate or     3     like the Great Lakes. In winter and spring, tourists are     4     by the clear skies and breathtaking multi-colored rocks of Arizona,Colorado and New Mexico.

Everything worth seeing in the USA is     5     to picnickers and vacationers by highways and unpaved secondary roads, which     6     people to places from where where they can push off onto the wilderness. Once in the wilderness,the chief worry will be, not how to avoid other hikers, but how not to get lost!

Many Americans, young and old, prefer camping in vehicles called"campers”. There exist many different kinds from the extremely extravagant to the cheap convertible pick-up truck. There are monster campers with every imaginable     7    , from deep freezers and microwave ovens, to plush carpets and color television sets.They can     8     four people comfortably.

Horseback riding also holds a     9     for many but it's a more expensive sport.There are ranches in Texas and other border states where you can stay and live the life of a cowboy or cowgirl. Other great outdoor pastimes for     10     can be skiing in the Rockies and hunting in Alaska, surfing, waterskiing in Florida.

On her return to England, 22-year- old Amy and her boy friend Neal decided to take “the road less travelled”. They drove across Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in Africa, but it wasn’t exactly a holiday. Mozambique had two qualities which     1     to them: great attraction as a travel destination and local people who badly needed help. Once there, the couple got off the     2     track and headed for Quirimbas National Park, where they found a tiny     3     of white sand close to a village. Life in the village was hard: there was little clean water and not enough food. Health care was poor and people in the village had a life     4     of 38 years. Amy and Neal had no qualifications in tourism or health care but they had common sense, enthusiasm and determination. The couple     5     to work on a beach lodge, building beach huts from local materials and employing people from the area. Once the lodge was complete, they set up a charitable foundation called NEMA, which received 5% of the money made. This money was used to create clean water points,     6     health care projects, build two primary schools and support conservation projects-it helped to improve the lives of thousands of people. “We wanted 40 to show the world the power of tourism, that it could be a     7     for change, says Amy.

It isn’t easy to get to this village. It’s not a typical     8     holiday with airport pick-ups and drop-offs. There’s no public transport, either. The nearest city is about 260 kilometers away and once there, you have to take a boat or go on a three-hour car journey along badly maintained roads. But the village lodge is worth the effort. Today the lodge as has nine beach huts, with beautiful sea views. There are no overpriced gift rip shops and other tourist traps, It’s the perfect place to take time out, escape the crowds and soak up the sun. Visitors can see the sights- explore the island nearby with a tour guide, go scuba-diving or observe African wildlife. But the     9     for many is getting to know people in the village, taking part in festivals and learning about NEMA’s work.” People who stay with us often come for the diving or the beach,” says Amy,” but it’s the communities that really       10     them away.”

Spain Looks to Chinese Travelers

Spain's tourism industry is looking to Chinese tourists for its high-end market, according to the president of the Spain-China Tourism Association.

“It is the kind of tourism that is not only interested in the sun, beach and the all-included     1     . They enjoy good food, wine, history and nature, and the new Chinese tourists would also want to spend more money in Spain,” said Rafael Cascales in a recent    2     with Xinhua.

The Spanish business leader described the     3     Chinese tourists as being younger, more international, and perhaps including more women. “They also travel on their own or in couples or in smaller groups. The     4     large groups of visitors have not disappeared, but this new form of traveling is becoming more important,” he said.

Speaking of the     5     pattern of the new kind of Chinese tourists the Tourism Association president said, “The money they spend is     6     better because they will book one flight with one airline, the hotel with another company and the restaurant with another.”

In his eyes, “Chinese tourists are very important because they     7     two things: there are a large number of them and they spend more money than anyone else — almost four times more than tourists from other countries.”

They not only travel abroad in the summer months when Spain has to    8     with the sun and beaches in countries such as Turkey and Egypt, but also travel in the off-peak seasons of a year, according to Cascales.

Spain is the second most popular tourist destination in the world, only after France. It attracted about 82 million visitors in 2017, 700,000 of them from China, a number which the United Nations World Tourism Organization     9     will rise to about 1 million by 2021.

“We are ready; we have the infrastructure (基础设施)at every level,     10     in hotel capacity. Here those visitors can find what they are looking for, including the luxury items which distinguish them,” Cascales noted.